DIGI⁺ Taiwan

President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) visited the Asia UAV AI Innovation Application R&D Center in Chiayi County on Friday to get an insight into Taiwan’s emerging drone industry.

Like his recent engagement with semiconductor companies in Hsinchu, Lai said the purpose of this visit was to engage in face-to-face dialogue with industry operators.

The president-elect said his upcoming administration looks forward to working with domestic drone businesses as they overcome challenges, continue making advances, and expand their global reach.

Unmanned surface vessels have great development potential and are expected to bring new advances to the domestic drone industry, Chen Kuan-ju (陳冠如), chairman of Thunder Tiger Corp., told Lai in Chiayi.

Drones can also play a deterrence role on land, sea, and air, he said.

According to the company operator, Taiwan currently operates three types of commercial drones for military use, not including unmanned surface vessels, which could play an essential role in deterring Chinese vessels from entering Taiwan’s territorial waters.

Drones are playing a key role in the Russia-Ukraine war and have become a major emerging industry in recent years, a business operator who preferred not to be named said.

They added that Taiwan’s highly developed information and communications industry could act as an important foundation in the development of drone technology.

In Chiayi, Lai said national defense and the economy are the two pillars that support the survival and development of a country.

Besides visiting several sites relevant to major industries, the president-elect said he also intends to get a grip on matters related to national defense and national security before he takes office on May 20.

Following his tour of the Asia UAV center, Lai spent the afternoon visiting an air defense military unit in southern Taiwan. The exact location was not disclosed.
Date: 2024-3-22
Source: Focus Taiwan